Deadly crash highlights danger of left turns

Painted markers on the pavement show skid marks and where vehicles came to rest Tuesday, August 2, on Minnesota Highway 23 and 160th Avenue near Foreston. Two people were killed in the five vehicle collision Sunday.(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)Buy Photo

A recent collision that killed two people near Foreston highlighted the danger of something drivers do every day on Minnesota roads: turn left.

Research shows left-turning vehicles are more likely to be involved in a collision, because the vehicle must cross in front of oncoming traffic.

Combine a vehicle slowing or stopping to make a left turn on a rural two-lane road with a high posted speed, and you have all the elements for a tragedy like the one that occurred last Sunday.

Travis Kiel, 35, a Foley real estate agent, was traveling east on Minnesota Highway 23 just west of Foreston and preparing to turn left onto a side road, according to the Minnesota State Patrol report. His car was rear-ended by another vehicle and pushed into the westbound lane in front of two motorcycles.

Kiel and one of the motorcycle drivers, Robert Ehrlichman Jr., 62, of Holdingford, were both killed in the collision. The other motorcycle driver, Brenda Ehrlichman, 52, was seriously injured.

The speed limit along that stretch of Highway 23 is 60 mph. There is no middle left-turn lane, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. There are right-turn lanes on both sides, but they are not passing lanes.

Experts say that while there are some steps that can be taken to reduce the hazards, such as better road design and alert drivers, turning left is just inherently more risky.

"They are the most dangerous because they are direct conflicts between different movements," said John Hourdos, director of the Minnesota Traffic Observatory and an adjunct assistant civil engineering professor at the University of Minnesota.

From 2006 to 2015, there were 8,644 collisions involving a left-turning vehicle on two-lane Minnesota highways with a posted speed of 55-75 mph, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Of those, 3,803 resulted in injuries and 122 were fatalities.

Traffic signals can reduce the risk at an intersection, especially when left-turning drivers are protected with a green arrow. But many newer signals have a flashing yellow arrows, which means drivers must find an adequate gap to make the left turn safely, Hourdos said.

In rural areas where traffic counts don't warrant a signal, like the one where Sunday's crash occurred, a driver must stop and wait for the opportunity to turn. If a high number of vehicles are stopping to turn, there's a greater likelihood that a vehicle will come from behind and strike the stopped driver.

There are road design features that can help improve the safety of intersections, such as designated middle lanes where left-turning vehicles can wait outside of moving traffic. But those come with a cost, because they require a wider road and more pavement to build and maintain, Hourdos said.

"Everything more than just an opening in the median costs money," he said.

It's also difficult for engineers to predict which intersections will see large volumes of turning vehicles. Traffic patterns can change over time, especially when new development pops up, Hourdos said. Suddenly, a spot where no one stopped 10 years ago might see quadruple the number of left turns.

"Usually, what happens is you have a crash, and that draws your attention," he said. Because there's not enough money to fix all problem intersections, road designers tend to prioritize those where crashes have occurred, Hourdos said.

There are other possible solutions, such as so-called reduced conflict intersections that eliminate left turns. They're designed not to slow drivers on the main road while requiring left-turning drivers to go through a special geometry.

However, it would take an enormous amount of money to retrofit the hundreds of thousands of crossings on the highway system, Hourdos said.

Reducing the places where vehicles can get off the highway also helps reduce the likelihood of collisions. However, that's not always a popular move, because drivers don't appreciate having to drive extra distance to their destination.

New technology such as collision avoidance systems could help prevent left-turn crashes as well. But Hourdos said one of the biggest causes is drivers talking on cell phones, checking texts or email or fiddling with the car stereo so they don't see the vehicle ahead of them slowing down to turn.

"The things that are distracting drivers are increasing exponentially, and there's no fighting it," he said.

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